EPIC imperial guard

Had  re-think about my imperial guard force for epic and decided to ditch an assault company and use the saved points to bring my baneblades up to company strength (100 points for an extra one) and add 2 more shadowswords to make that company strength aswell plus and an extra hellhound unit for 100. It means i am very tank heavy and will have to rely on the orgryns for hand to hand but i much prefer to blow things up from a distance leave the dirty fighting to space marines they like that sought of thing.

                                                  all painted and varnished

close up of the baneblade

in some unbelievable state (for me anyway) this means this armies is technically complete all it needs now is a couple of commissars to go with the new companies. I can spy some Pansy eldar that need to feel the emperor's righteous fury from this lot very soon.

Heroics and ross

With the loss of Fort wargames  website and Heroics and Ross not having many pictures there is no where to go to see H&R models without paint so you know what you get. One day i might get a website up for all these pics but in the mean time i'll post photos of any new models i get before their painted as well as after.

Heroics Ross He177

Heriocs Ross Mosquito

Heroics Ross Me410

Heroics ross Pe-2

Heriocs ross vikings

XENOS

some pics of the opposition that i painted for my 2 sons armies

 

Here is the result after a spray with dullcote

Still a bit shiney in places so i think the next batch should get matt varnish then a spray

Got my latest order from Dom's decals so spent some time putting them on all the aircraft I've already painted, Dom's is a great source for decals, real great value for money too. the only thing is you need to allow plenty of time when you order his not the fastest but he is only a one man band and only does decals in his spare time.

1/300th aircraft Heroics ross

IL2 sturmovik

The ranks of my air forces continue to enlarge, here is the latest a couple single seat IL2 by H&R

Heroics Ross il2

Church

Did i quick paint job last night on a resin church i picked up off ebay, in fact i got 7 buildings for a few pounds they were classed as miscast but since they are ruined buildings any way i cant see anything wrong with them.

Dipping

 Had my first go at dipping a couple of days ago. on reading about it on the net i decided to go with a cheap Wilkinson's wood stain rather than the more expensive army painter dip as it is supposed to be the same thing and it wouldn't be too  much of a waste if i don't like the effect.
I didn't dip the figures when it came to it i just painted it on for better control. I have to say the effects don't really seem to be any better than using a wash which has been my preferred method before this but it has to be remembered that this has also given the models a very hard wearing varnish,I'll decide for certain once I've got some more dulcote and seen if the shine goes.

                                The whole squad

                                          Close up of the Sergeant

         before
             &
          after 

Wargames illustrated 305

WI 305

 slightly better magazine from WI this month all though the theme of 1066 was a bit of a damp squid with just 2 battle reports (OK 1 was a mini campaign) and no history but some nice articles on Turks vs Britishh in Iraq (with history!) and Egypt in 1882 with some of the usual nice pics of dioramas/battles and modelling articles and only a minimal advert article from battlefront (Vietnam), worth a purchase.

FW190

A pair of H&R FW190's in Russian front winter camouflage

Heroics ross FW190

i must say the h&r model seems to not quite capture the shape of the FW190 might upgrade to a raiden one

Typhoon

A pair of H&R typhoon 1B's

Heroics Ross typhoon

Didn't know British aircraft had such colourful spinners but googling some images for colour schemes and they all seem to have it

Wargames illustrated 304

I suppose it should come as no surprise that this months copy is full of articles on operation market garden since battlefront has released some new books for that campaign but they go maybe a but over the top. We have some new army list variants which you cant use unless you buy the German book a scenario but how many people are going to build dutch style raised up roads? apart from all the battlefront coverage there is game based on a real incident during the Zulu war featuring a Bonaparte which i never knew.a couple of reviews of an ACW rule set and battlegroup kursk as a nod to non battlefront/osprey stuff a game for french and Indian wars and some modelling articles make up the rest apart from the start of a series of articles over the coming months on the development of the tank which this month actually features ancient chariots but not in the form of information piece but as 3 short pieces of fiction featuring chariots in battle very strange! not sure where WI is going with this not actually any help for the wargamer at the moment. As it stands at the moment WI still trails behind Wargames soldiers and strategy, and miniature wargames in the magazine stakes.

He 162

A pair of H&R He162 German fighter jets

Heroics ross HE162

one of my favorite aircraft of WWII ever since i read the commando book 'The jets from nowhere' as a boy great!

Yak-1

A pair of H&R yak1's, i got a .05mm fine liner pen and thought i would give a go at drawing in the flap lines and it is much easier than trying to paint the cockpit.

Heroics ross Yak-1

Battlefield

When i actually get round to it this is where my battles take place

Progress

my first squad for my imperial guard army painted in their base colours.I'm going to try dipping these guys . heard good things about wilko wood stain so will give that a go

 
Also me and the kids have been learning 5th edition WH40k rules (cheap but still nice and shiny) , easy enough even for my ten year old and his Tau(he's loved firewarrior on the PlayStation since he was 7).

FIELD OF BATTLE

where the magic happens

 

Eldar Warlock Titan

After about 20 years i finally finished my Epic eldar warlock titan

DO-217e-5

here is a Dornier DO217e-5 carrying a couple of HS293 guided bombs

Heroics ross Do-217

 and a look at the bomb

i never know what colour to paint the cockpit blue, white or black never seems right oh well

FRENCH AIRCRAFT

here is a couple of i think  H&R french aircraft i got off ebay with no information. looking on the internet i think the one on the left is a morane-saulnier M.S.406 and the one on the right is a Bloch MB.152 not a great paint job and for some reason the french used blue with green and brown for their camouflage not too sure where they are trying to hide

ZTZ-99

Armstrong miniatures ZTZ-99 MBT you can get these from H&R now

Heroics ross ZTZ-99

Wargames Soliders & Strategy

Wargames soldiers & strategy No63

let me start by saying i like WSS its my favourite wargames mag since when i first found it when its was still printed in Spain, i have to say since the dutch have had it, it has only got better.
First up the reviews of figures always covers more ranges than any other mag and the height measurement is very handy when scale means about as much as women's clothe sizes(ask the missus),a couple of sort articles one on battle group kursk rules, second a Nap battle then a feature on mob rule in Republican Rome different! the main feature is the AWI with history battles figures and even a navel campaign in the Indian ocean? some painting and modelling articles or those who like that sort of thing a look at square bashing by peter pig and a quick look at some books also in the magazine are the usual colums from the guest writers (including rick priestley!) all in all even though I'm no fan of the American war of Independence or being British a rebellious province still the best mag you can get, if you can get it can be quite hard to find but you should be able to get you local newsagent or smiths to get it if you ask nicely.

Wargames illustrated 301

My thoughts on this mag

 I've been reading WI since about No. 38 its always been my fav wargames magazine, however just lately i feel like I'm reading white dwarf. Every time there is something new for FOW the mags stuffed full of it but does that make the contents bad?
First up there is a 18 page FOW battle report which i have to say i didn't like at all. The way they had it written gave me now sense of the game at all it was a mess so much so i gave up half way through shame i like late war WWII but this was a bust.
Then you have a new saga faction the Byzantines with a battle board on the back cover good if you play saga useless if you don't, followed by 3 modelling articles (making terrain, a diorama and basing) then a piece on heroes for Victorian games based in the middle of nowhere, finished off by some more articles about painting and terrain with a small scenario for Spanish vs Incas. no historical information of note i hope this isn't how the magazine is going to go now i would give it only 3/10

Bases

looking for an alternate to MDF bases i came across these

they are plastic come in brown, grey or green and don't cost a lot check out the range
http://renedra.co.uk/webstore.html#Bases

Bases

while basing up more epic imperial guard infantry i ran out of bases, so i was left with trying to get some off ebay or using mdf ones untill i found these

just the right size and plastic so its easy to glue the infantry to and does not cost a lot
check the range here http://renedra.co.uk/webstore.html#Bases